Chapter

Kaylee sat at the table in the lounge, nervously chewing on her lip. She sipped her glass of Merlot..and questioned her intelligence...and her sanity.

"Oh wow...why did you do this Kaylee? You need to have your head examined," she said outloud. And, yet at the same time..stole another glance in the mirror behind the bar. She played, nervously, with her hair and then straightened her sweater. "Oh what the hell," she said, as she tugged it off her shoulders, "its now or never sweetie. If you're going to have a drink with this MAN...might as well make sure he remembers you."

She put her face in her hands, and softly chuckled to herself. She wasn't really sure what she was doing there. Oh..she KNEW why she wanted to be there. He was a gorgeous man...one of the best looking men she had ever seen, but WHAT was she doing there? There was a difference.

At that moment she stopped laughing. She felt him standing there before she ever saw him.

"Kaylee, it is Kaylee, right?"

She felt him there, and she heard him. That voice.....it could only belong to ONE person.

Kaylee lowered her hands, looked straight ahead....and directly into a pair of khaki pants. She slowly risked a glance upward. Khaki pants....a black v-neck tee shirt...and a black leather jacket. He certainly was tall. And, as her eyes continued upward, she realized she may have made the biggest mistake of her life.

"Yes, I'm Kaylee...and you....you are definitely Kevin," she stated as calmly as she could. She then directed her attention all the way up his body. Oh wow, she thought, damn him...a short jacket...I remember what that behind looked like earlier. And...and....god..., she stopped short, as her eyes had now moved all the way to his face.

She found herself looking into a pair of the most beautiful green eyes she'd ever seen. Oh sure, she saw them last night, but they were tear -filled and red. Tonight they were a little tired, but clear. She gasped.

"Kaylee.... are you ok?"

"Ummm..yeah.......YES...I mean........I'm fine....p..pplease sit down."

That said, she took a deep breath and a much bigger drink of wine.

Kevin pulled out the chair from across the table, and lowered himself down. He then cast a glance over his shoulder, and motioned for something. It was then that Kaylee noticed that Luke had been keeping a discreet distance. But, with the motion from Kevin, he appeared at the table.

"Kaylee....I can't tell you how glad I am that you made it," he said softly, as he leaned closer to her and shook her hand.

"Thanks Luke...I hope I end up half as glad...cause right now I'm too nervous to know what I'm doing."

Luke leaned even closer and whispered in her ear, "don't be...he's a good man," and then he chuckled softly as he added, "and, I don't think I've ever seen something or someONE make him so nervous, either."

Kevin then leaned over and said, "I hate to break this up, but I think this is MY date buddy...go away!"

Luke stepped back, dropped Kaylee's hand after a final squeeze, and motioned to the other side of the bar. Around the corner, but not out of sight.

"I'll be right over there Kevin...I don't think this crowd is one that will bother you....so, I'm going to take my leave. Kaylee....Kevin....have fun and for godsakes both of you...RELAX!!"

Kevin averted Kaylee's eyes, and looked at the table top. He started to laugh, and then looked up at Kaylee, smiling.

"Well, I guess we better RELAX and enjoy ourselves," he said, "think that's possible?"

"Hmmmm...I don't know Kevin.....you do seem a little tense."

At this statement, Kevin started to laugh outloud. Kaylee quickly learned that he had a very contagious laugh, and was downright adorable when he laughed...god, his nose...the way it crinkled up. She started to laugh outloud herself.

From across the room, Luke glanced over to where the laughter was coming from, and started to laugh himself. THAT sound, Kevin's laughter, was a sound that he'd not heard in a long time, and he missed it! He turned back to his coffee, and said a silent prayer. Kevin deserved to be happy...and if being with this woman made him laugh already....Luke had no doubt the lengths Kevin would go to in order to persue a continuing relationship with her.